


Puzzle Fragments

by artoni



Series: AHTLP [2]
Category: Big Hero 6
Genre: shortfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-03-14 15:25:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3415787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artoni/pseuds/artoni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Character-focused vignettes and standalones from the AHTLP verse. It takes many little pieces to form a puzzle's final product, and even then, it takes time to put them together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Endurance Trial [GOGO]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Go Go preferred sprints to marathons, but a pit stop is a pit stop.

Years ago, when she had been young and stupid - well, maybe not  _stupid_ , but a little less wise - she had thought that street racing was it. Would be it. Forever the highlight of her life, and the greatest thrill; the scent of gasoline and burning rubber the only sort of drug she needed. She'd done it since she was a kid, and knew she was good at it; maybe not the best, but would be, one day. The only thing in her way was the equipment itself, which she constantly was searching for new ways to improve and push to its limits.

As for school? She'd gone through it to please her parents, nothing more. As long as she got her As, she could do what she wanted, and it had been enough encouragement until one day she'd realized that she hadn't brought her science project to school. Rather than risk taking the blow to the grade, she'd been desperate enough to pull together some notes in the lunch hour before the class, scraping  _something_ together with the help of a few classmates and somehow,  _somehow_ it had been enough to present.

It just so happened that her school had a visitor that day - a professor from SFIT, no less. He'd struck up a few words of conversation without her realizing who he was, and then the two of them getting in to a discussion about the wheel's design, and then she'd realized whom she was talking to and been too stunned to say anything. Even when he'd made an off-hand comment about how if this was what she could do in a  _sprint_ , then he wondered what she could do with an actual lab and equipment...

She'd then taken it as a challenge. And everything else had fallen in to place from there. Her parents had never seen her so driven before, not even before a race, and as this seemed quite a bit less dangerous...well, they'd given as much support as they could. Which was quite a bit, and her acceptance in to the Institute had led to a heck of a party all around. 

Go Go still had a photo from that night on her phone. She may not have been as prolific as Honey Lemon when it came to memorializing such things, and it hadn't even been her who'd taken it; Mom had sent it to her, later, and she'd ended up setting it as her wallpaper for a while before letting it simply remain a data file. One she only looked at when scrolling through the gallery, which was mostly filled with in-progress shots to send to a few friends, or inspiration from concept vehicles- bikes, cars, even air and water craft could help jog her mind, get her drafting, or poring over their specs in hopes of finding something she could use... 

She didn't do that much, anymore. At least, not as often as she used to. She'd graduated, gotten a 'real job', but most of her free time had her going over her  _own_ designs, searching for ways to upgrade and improve in a never-ending race to get _better_. Get  _faster_.

And maybe one day it'd be fast enough. 

Probably never. Hell, even this, going out to the roads to watch one of the street races - she  _barely_ did this anymore, and when she did, it wasn't for pleasure. But this, tonight...

She glanced up from her phone at the sound of an approach, automatically on guard until she saw who it was - and even then, she knew damn well that she could by no means  _lower_ that guard, even as the young man held out a bottle in offering.

"Didn't know what you'd like," he said apologetically, sitting down beside her. "Tell me when you're just watching, next time, and I'll be more prepared?" 

Go Go didn't drink much -  _never_ when she going to drive or ride, she'd never been  _that_ stupid - but she could hold her own. She accepted the bottle with a light 'mmm' of acknowledgement, looking back down at the drivers getting themselves ready. For a while, that was all she did, aside from using the bottle opener her companion had tossed over before tossing it back, and the silence was comfortable enough for the both of them.

It was an interesting - friendship? Was that even the right word? Interesting whatever-this-was, she had with the guy. Somewhere between rivals and race-enthusiasts. Shin, as he called himself, preferred the four-wheeled variety as opposed to the bikes that were her passion...but seemed skilled with driving both, as he'd proven the few times they'd pit themselves against one another. 

Directly or not. 

"Thought you were 'working' tonight," she said eventually, not bothering to look at him. He knew exactly what she was referring to, and in turn, he knew exactly where she was coming from asking. But he only shrugged back, reaching to scratch at the base of his long ponytail. 

"Yeah, ah,  _he's_ in one of his moods. Better to let him do his own thing." At her raised eyebrow, Shin shook his head, adding quickly- "Not  _that_ kind of thing, it's not one of  _those_. At least...I don't think so."

"Mmm." She took a drink, but let her dubiousness show through. Though...that was the best he could offer, really, and she  _knew_ that. If they never got  _specific_ about what they were referring to, neither of them could get in trouble one way or another, and she'd used him to vent a couple times (like when Fred'd pulled something  _particularly_ stupid or Hiro had gotten in to one of his own moods), but... "He'll calm down?" she had to ask, half out of concern for the next few days, half for...well.

Everything else. 

Shin shrugged helplessly. "Probably. Usually. Worst comes to worst, I hang out here for a couple days until I get a call that he needs me to make a supply run." 

What  _they_ had was interesting, too, but Go Go never pressed for specifics. She knew if she did, she'd lose him; in turn,  _he_ knew that if  _he_ pushed...she was only so sure what he was getting out of this, or thought he was getting, but for her, at least, for a while, she could  _pretend_ that there was nothing but the race below and the cool air of the night, and that she wasn't going to have to go home and try to wonder if it there was anything there she'd learn and could  _use_.

And if it was right to do so. 

Shin wasn't her friend, not like the other was, but he was at least a  _companion_ , here, and a reminder that even amid all the chaos of their lives...there was still a part of her that was, and would  _always_ be more fascinated with the workings of the engine than the output. The design, as opposed to the product- he wasn't as technical as she was, but as she steered the conversation towards commentary on the night's offerings...

It was a fragile, and  _false_ solace, but it was  _hers_. One where she could edge towards tipsy and the two of them could commiserate about the handling of the driver at the rear, the stolen win of the one making its victory lap - and one where she could pretend she wasn't still in the race, with no finish line in sight.


	2. Monologue [FRED]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue-only piece. In which Fred turns to the old standby for advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Genalovestoons for some betareading!

"Hey, Dad. I know you're busy and all, what with the whole...you know. Are we still calling it the 'family island'? Because, let's face it, I'm pretty sure I was there when I was little and that I wasn't dreaming all those cool techs and gadgets so you're  _probably_  there, or at least using it as a base while you do your whole, uh, thing. You know what, I'm just gonna call it the family business, because check it - your son is a grade-A superhero, and has been for the past couple've years. Yeah, sometimes I can't believe it either, huh? It's so  _cool_ , we're really out there fighting bad guys and everything!

"Like, the other day, there was this who who totally had us on the ropes for a minute there, but then Honey Lemon did something with her purse and  _she totally scienced her way out of it_! We're all doing that, even me! And you know I'm not really that good at science, but there's nobody more enthusiastic about it, and I was the one who gave her the idea, too! I was just thinking back to Master Disaster And The Party Animals and thinking about how there was that story where the team found all their stuff rusted and bogus, and she was able to figure out a way to induce it in this guy's armor, and bam! No more armor! Pretty cool, huh?

"There's a whole bunch of other stories I want to share with you, too-! Wasabi came up with a new idea for his lasers and he's still testing it because he's not sure it's safe, but you know how he is. I mean, on one hand, big guy's all about safety first, but on the other  _he's making a freakin' laser gun!_  Trying, that is. Hiro's helping him out and everything but this is  _so cool_! I really,  _really_  wish you were here to see it!...and...

"...and maybe give me some advice, too. It's about...yeah, it's him again. You remember, Professor Callaghan?...but I guess he's not really a Professor much anymore, huh? Not for a while, anyway...but, I dunno, I'm not really sure he really thought things'd go the way they went. We sure didn't, anyway- sure, we were out to catch him even before we knew who he was, but that was supposed to be it. We catch the bad guy, we win, we put him in jail, we move on, but...

"...it just keeps getting worse, Dad. We don't even know where he got the microbots from. And I just keep thinking back to how we saw him when we heard he'd broken out of jail, how we - okay,  _me_ ,  _I'm_  the one who said he was going crazy and maybe he is, but I'm thinking back on it and I think he looked  _scared_ , you know? Arguing with the microbots like they were alive and all. I'm not really convinced they're not, mad science gone wrong, and even Hiro doesn't know how it all happened...but I keep thinking back and wondering, maybe if I hadn't thought he was crazy...

"...maybe I coulda helped come up with something to end things there, I guess. To keep him from running away. If we could have just  _caught_  him there, Dad-! We wouldn't have had to chase him down again, we wouldn't have to wonder where he was those months while other things were going crazy here, and then when he came back maybe if we /had/ to still deal with things, we could've handled it better...

"The comics make it all look so different. You know how I can get caught up in those for days. I used to be able to reread a storyline in a couple hours, for crying out loud-! And sometimes, like I said,  _it's so cool_! But some days I just can't even pick them up, because none of them ever really say how tiring all this is. And I think that's it, Dad; I'm  _tired_. I didn't think I'd ever say that, but...

"You'd probably have something super awesome and inspiring to say. How we can totally handle all this. And I know we can, but that- that doesn't change the fact that I'm tired, and I think everyone else is tired, too. We need to do something, something to bring back our energy or focus or something, maybe a movie night or a party or...

"...that's it. That's  _it_! Dad, you're a  _genius_ \- I mean, maybe I'm a genius, but you helped! It's not really a party, but parties happen around birthdays and- and I think I know a way to maybe fix this and show him we don't think he's crazy! I gotta go find the others-!"


	3. Of Use [ENVY]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is only physical. It can only be physical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fragment is rated NSFW for a (non-explicit) sexual situation, and I would like to remind everyone that my short desc of AHTLP includes the line “…very poor decisions.” This involves one of them.

“Tell me something.”

He doesn’t reply at first. Envy rolls her eyes, well-used to his sullen silences (she’s even indulged in a few of her own), but considering the events of the past hour, she’d have _thought_  he’d be in a better mood. She certainly is; she feels languid and relaxed, _satisfied_  in a way that she hasn’t felt in- well. Since the last time they did this.

It isn’t  _frequent_  by any means, but it’s happened enough that they know the ropes by now. Certainly, Wrath has more experience on her in general, but not like this - not with someone who would normally be  _lethal_ to bed, at  _best_. At worst, disfiguring and maiming, the mere touch of skin to skin enough to cause discomfort. Anything more intimate would be,  _is_  inherently more dangerous, if not for a whim that turned into an experiment that turned in to what may be a somewhat convoluted, but at least is an effective work-around. One that allows continued closeness, with her stretched out against him like a particularly comfortable great cat.

Now if only he wasn’t as disinterested as one. She sighs, and tries again. " _Robert…_ “ she drawls, only to be cut off by a warning growl.

"You’re half my age, if  _that_ ,” he snaps back at her, countless metal pieces rustling on the floor in reflection of his irritation. They’ve been quiet, mostly, even in the heat of things- subtle supports at best, and they, at least, don’t require a protective coating. But there’s an edge to their master’s voice that’s somewhere between regretful and weary; she chooses to ignore it as he goes on. “I could have  _fathered_  you. Don’t make this anything more than it is.”

Not true; or, well. She doesn’t know how old  _he_  is, and, to be fair…she doesn’t know how old she  _herself_  is, the concept of a ‘birthday’ lost long ago. The closest thing she has to such, she’s chosen to block from memory, and it certainly has no place  _here_. Nonetheless, Envy huffs out another sigh and shifts her position, resting her hands atop his chest and her chin atop those. “So what is it?” she plaintively questions, knowing full well that this was never  _going_  to go anywhere, and yet…

And yet, she’s still a bit disappointed when he lets out a sigh of his own, and just barely raises his head. “…We’re using each other,” he affirms, subdued. “That’s all.”

Her skin is rough and textured, like a leather that dulls most sensations; this close, though, and after being coated by that solution he’d made, it tingles at the feel of air alone. Sweat and exertion has dissolved some of it, but his hands still feel silk-smooth as they idly trace over her, following the patterns of her skin like a contoured map. The oil of his own skin mixes with the rest of it all, a nearly imperceptible sizzle following the touch. A touch that is  _new_  and was  _impossible_ , for so long, and the fact that she can have it  _now_ …

She’s addicted. She knows it. And still she craves more. 

“Then let me use you again,” she whispers; he meets her gaze for a long moment before closing his eyes with a sigh, and then jerking his head towards the side table. Satisfied with her victory, she helps him reapply the base, and then bares her teeth in a savage pleasure while bringing herself to another completion with his deft hands. 


End file.
